High-tension operating switch



Decca 1924- I 1,519,402

' M. E. GRAVES ET AL HIGH TENSION OPER ATING SWITCH Filed Dec. 14, 1921Patented Dec. l6, 1924-.

UNITE STATES PATENT QFFICE.

MOSS E. GRAVES AND CARL C. SEVERIN, SAN FEANGISCO. CALIFORNIA.

HIGH-TENSION OPERATING- SWITCH.

Application filed. December 14, 1921.

To all iii/ 20m it may concern;

Be it known that we, Moss E. Gnnvns and CARL (I. SEYERIN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at the city and county of San Francisco andState of California, have invented new and useful Improvements inHigh-Tension Operating Switches, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to high tension operating switches, andespecially to air break switches such as are arranged for mounting onpoles, transmission towers and the like.

The object of the present invention is to generally improve and simplifyswitches of the character described;'to provide a switch which isauapted to make or break contacts directly on the transmission linespan; a switch in which both the movable and stationary parts areself-aligning with and substantially supported by the transmission line;a switch which is insulated and supported entirely by suspensioninsulators; a switch which will make a double break in the line of anylength desired, and which may be readily insulated to handle highpotential circuits of 100,000 volts or more; a switch in which allmovable parts aredead and may be grounded wh'en'the switch is in openposition; further a switch which may be readily operated from the groundor a distant point of control and which is not adversely affected byweather conditions.

Other objects will hereinafter appear.

The invention consists of'the parts and the construction, combinationand arrangement of parts as hereinafter more fully described andclaimed, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1is a side elevation of the switch.

Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 22, Fi 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and particularly to Fig. 1, Aindicates a suitable support, for instance such as may be provided bymeans of a transmission line tower or pole, as here illustrated. Thetransmission line carried by the support is generally indicated at B andis in this instance dead ended with relation to the pole by means ofdead end insulators as indicated at 2 and 3, the insulators providedbeing of the disk or suspension type and being secured to the pole bymeans of eye-bolts or the like as here illustrated; the ends of the linebeing sci-1&1 no. 522.4 15.

similarly secured to the insulators b eyebolts and clamps asindicated'at 4:. *arried directly by the transmission line and suitablysecured thereto at any convenientpoint adjacent the dead end insulators2 and 3 is a pair of stationary contacts, one being shown at 5, and oneat 6. These contacts are stationary on the span and may be constructedin any suitable manner; the structure depending to a great extent uponthe amount of voltage carried.

F or the purpose of protecting the line against arc-overs or flares,slate deflectors, such as indicated at '7. may be employed, and otherprotecting means may also'be provided, but are in the present instanceneither shown nor described as such features doiijot form a particularpart of the present invention.

Secured a suitable distance below the dead end insulators, indicated at2 and 3, is a cross arm 8., and disposed between the cross arm 8 and theouter ends of the dead end insulators is a pair of guides as indicatedat 10 and 11. These guides are secured between insulators of thesuspension type, as indicated at 9, 12, 13 and 14:; the suspensioninsulators 9 and l l being carried directly by the transmission line,while thesuspension insulators 12- and 13 are secured to the cross arm.The guides 10 and 11 are thus held in'a vertical position with relationto the line, and while maintained under suf ficient tension to maintaina fairly rigid position, it is obvious that a certain amount offlexibility and give with relation to the line will be provided as willhereinafter be described.

The guides just referred to are provided for the reception of themovableswitch which consists of a cross frame 15, a pair of uprights 16 and 17,and pair of contacts 18 and 19. The cross frame is provided withbushings 20, which form bearings with relation to the guides 10 and 1.1,and as these bushings are faarly free, it obvious that vertical movementof the cross frame with relation to the guides and the stationarycontacts 5 and (5 will be permitted. The movable portion of the switch,taken as a whole, is preferably raised and lowered from a distant point,or by a tackle which may be manipulated from the ground or base of apole, and while a varying form of mechanism may be employed, we havehere illustrated a simple form of pulley arrange ment which consists ofa block 21 and a cable 22. A suspension insulator is secured to theupper end of the cable and the opposite end of this suspensioninsulator, which is shown at 23, is again attached to the cross frame15, thus forming insulation between the cross frame or the movable partof the switch and the cable and block. The cable may otherwise be guidedwith relation to the pole and in this instance is extended to the base;the lower end of the cable being provided with a counterweight to offsetthe main weight of the movable portion of the switch. A section of thecable consists of a chain, as shown, and as this passes through a guideindicated at 24, it can be seen that a padlock or the like may be passedthrough the links of the chain and the guide and thus prevent tamperingby unauthorized persons. A pair of collars fixed on the cable will limitthe movement of the movable portion of the switch, both in an upward andin a downward direction, thus preventing damage to the suspensioninsulators at either end if excess movement should be imparted to theswitch.

The present structure involves many important features:

First: It can be seen that the structure is exceedingly simple andsubstantial; comparatively few parts are employed, and such parts as areemployed are of standard construction and readily obtainable.Installation may therefore be made at practically any point as thematerial required is almost always available.

Second: As the stationary contacts are carried directly by thetransmission line and the guides for the movable switch are similarlysecured to the transmission line, it can readily be seen that alignmentbetween the movable parts of the switch and the stationary parts isautomatically taken care of, thus sag or side sway in the line will inno way affect the operation of the present switch.

Third: The method of dead ending the line withrelation to the support iseXceedinglysimple and is in fact substantially such as employed instandard practice, and as insulators of the suspension type areemployed, it can readily be seen that insulation against exceedinglyhigh voltage can readily be taken care of.

I Fourth: The present switch provides two breaks inthe line and as suchsubstantially reduces the vertical height of the switch to one-half. ofthat ordinarily required. 7

Fifth: All movable parts employed are dead and may be grounded when theswitch is in open position; this may be accomplished by employing achain, which is connected with the groundat one end, for instancethrough means Of a cable. This chain may be thrown over the cross frame15, when the switch is lowered or opened, and all movable parts are thusgrounded.

Sixth: The mechanism whereby the switch is raised and lowered isinsulated bysuspension insulators as indicated at 23, and thereforeeliminates all danger as far as the operator is concerned.

Seventh: Another important feature to be taken into consideration is thefact that the present switch structure will not be affected by extremeclimatic variations, for instance icing over or freezing of the'contactsshown at 5, 6, 18 and 19, will in most instances not take place due tothe fact that there is usually a certain amount of vibra tion andmovement in the line. The con tacts are thus working with relation toeach other and will therefore effectively prevent freezing or icingover.

While certain features of the present invention are more or lessspecifically illustrated, we wish it understood that various changes inform and proportion may be resorted to within the scope of the appendedclaims, similarly that the materials and finish of the several partsemployed may be such as the experience and judgment of the manufacturermay dictate or varying uses may demand.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is r 1. The combination with a high potentialtransmission line and a support therefor having insulating units deadending the line with relation to the support, of a pair of stationarycontacts one on each line, a switch member movable with relation to thecontacts, and guides therefor supported by the line to maintainsubstantial alignment between the stationary contacts and the movableswitch member.

2. The combination with a high potential transmission line and a supporttherefor having insulating units dead ending the line with relation tothe support, of contacts carried by the line, a cross arm on thesupport,.a.pair of guide members, suspension insulatorsconnectingthe-opposite ends of the guides with the cross arm and theline respectively, and a switch member movable on the guides to and awayfrom the contacts.

3. The combination with a high potentialtransmissioniline and a supportthereforhav-ing insulatory units dead ending the line with relation tothe support, of contacts carried by the line, a cross arm on thesupport, apair of guide members, suspension insulators connecting theopposite ends of the guides withthe cross arm and the line respectively,a switch-member movable on the guidesto and away from the contacts,-

and means for imparting movementto the switch upon the guides.

4. The combination with a high potential transmission line and a supporttherefor having insulating units dead ending the line with relation tothe support, of contacts carried by the line, a cross arm on thesupport, a pair of guide members, suspension insulators connecting theopposite ends of the guides with the cross arm and the linerespectively, a switch member movable on the guides to and away from thecontacts, means for imparting movement to the switch upon the guides,and means insulating the switch with relation to the last named means.

5. The combination with a high potential transmission line and a supporttherefor having suspension insulators dead ending' the line withrelation to the support, of

a pair of stationary contacts carried by the line, a cross arm on thesupport, a pair of guide members, suspension insulators connecting theopposite ends of the guides with the cross arm and the linerespectively, a cross frame sliclably mounted on the guides, contactscarried by the cross frame and movable in unison with the cross frame toand away from the stationary contacts on the line, a cable carried bythe support adapted to raise and lower the cross frame and the contactscarried thereby, a suspension insulator interposed between the capableand the cross frame, and means for limiting the movement of the cable.

MOSS E. GRAVES.

CARL (l. SEVERIN.

